How Tech Can Help To Drill Down Past Credit Report

The last year painfully illustrated the dilemma most credit unions have been facing for some time now. Even when financing becomes available, finding qualified individuals is about as daunting a challenge today than at any time in recent history. The slightest imperfection in a credit report can derail a loan process.

However, financial institutions shouldn't take the credit report's conclusions at face value and show prospects the door, because chances are they are leaving money on the table when they do.

Take Nothing At Face Value
In most instances credit union loan specialists simply request credit reports from the usual suspects to see if an applicant's score is high enough to qualify for a specific loan. Very rarely does the service provider have the time to analyze the credit data in detail for what often are inconsistencies or errors that, if corrected, would qualify that individual for financing.

This might not have been an issue five years ago. Today it's a different story; simply taking credit reports at face value could mean that qualified applicants walk right out the door without the loan officer even knowing it. Now more than ever, CUs need to expand their analytical capabilities to uncover any and all opportunities for new deals.

Technology To The Rescue
To do this right, loan officers should consider leveraging existing Web-based systems that can perform "credit proof reading", identifying potential data errors and offering steps to rectify those discrepancies to quickly increase an applicant's score. Do so affords credit unions and underwriters a better understanding of a person's actual qualifying potential, and enhances the financial service professionals closure rate, operational efficiency and sales pipeline.

Please visit the Credit Union Journal website to read the rest of this article.